A Scalable Classroom Intervention to Reduce Prejudice in Divided Societies

• In Event: New Directions in the Study of Intergroup Relations (Virtual Session)

Abstract

Can educational programs improve intergroup relations in divided societies? We develop a month-long classroom curriculum in which students discuss episodes of an Israeli web-series, which depicts children from stigmatized groups responding to taboo questions elicited from home audiences. The program is designed to encourage students to discuss inter-group commonalities, identify intra-group heterogeneity, and engage in perspective taking. To test the effects of our program, we implemented a field-experiment in Israel, implemented during a cycle inter-communal violence. Our findings suggest that the intervention affected attitudes and behaviors. Compared with students in a control group, treated students' affect towards out-groups increased by over 0.38 SD, and their willingness to sign up for an intergroup contact initiative increased by 0.14 SD. These findings emphasize how combining psychological insights with existing educational content, can promote more favorable intergroup relations in divided societies, even in times of conflict. We are currently scaling the intervention in 8 additional schools, testing the short and long term-effects of the program on intergroup attitudes and behaviors.

Authors

• Chagai Weiss, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Eran Halperin, Interdisciplinary Center